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Brilliant Analysis of Why We're Going to Win it All . . .

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Rileydog, Nov 3, 2008.

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  1. Rileydog

    Rileydog Member

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    Like Morgana in the swamp, I can see things starting to take shape . . . .

    5. Our Bench: We have potentially devastating bench brigade built around Brooks, Artest and Landry. You can plug in Barry or Battier as the 2/3 and Yao/Mutumbo and maybe even Hayes. AB has been amazingly good. He changes the speed of the game, penetrates, can score and sets up Barry, Artest and Landry for clean open looks at the basket. Artest and Landry are the epitome of athleticism, hustle, defense and energy. Artest (and Yao, if in) provides the bona fide low post threat. Landry is money from mid range. If you add Battier and Mutumbo to that mix, it's going to be damn hard for anybody's bench to score against us. Folks, this is a game changing unit.

    4. Staying with the AB theme for a moment, he's shown me something that I didn't see before, likely because he wasn't running with the starters. When Yao sets up in the low block, AB is still way outside of the 3 point line. He's looking at Yao's positioning, but does not dribble up to the 3 point line yet. When Yao has his man on his back, AB "drives" to the spot he wants, in order to create an angle to make the pass. Let me repeat - he drives to that spot. He does not just park at that spot with a live dribble (or worse, yet, after having picked up his dribble). That is so much easier to defend/deny because the entire arena knows what you're trying to do. His approach is very hard to defend because he is so quick off the dribble that his defender is much more concerned about getting smoked on dribble penetration than he is about a "mere entry pass". Well, I'd be willing to bet that a good/successful entry pass adds 15 to 20% to Yao's FG percentage on any given play. He maintains position and balance, and his defender is basically screwed if he plays behind Yao. I'm not saying that AB is a great PG, All star or HOF point guard. But this approach to entry pass is something that some of the greats use(d) -- stockton (b*stard), Magic, Nash . . .

    3. Our starting 5: We will employ the same starting 5 as last year when Battier is back. Until then, we grind through some games, get Tmac and Yao back into shape, rhythm and form. It's fashionable to bash Alston, and I'd like to take a whack at him righ tabout now, but he just needs to find last year's form. Until then, we grind and win. The discussion around here has been about health and getting/staying in shape. Let's not forget about rhythm and form. That group has done pretty well in the past (Can someone insert the raw data to suport the +- of this starting 5? I can't find the site).

    2. We can now just out talent people. Yeah, we're that team, the one that we used to envy and hate on the other side because they had so many options. Before, it always seemed like we'd only win if Yao and Tmac play well, Alston and Battier have solid games, etc. Now, even when we're not playing at 100 percent efficiency, we can just overwhelm teams with our superior talent. Good luck stopping Yao, Artest, Tracy, Landry, Scola, Battier, AB, Barry and the rest, all on the same night. The corralary to this is that we don't have to stress out mentally and physically every night, trying to be 100%. More talent should = less injuries.

    1. No Luther Head.
     
    #1 Rileydog, Nov 3, 2008
  2. durvasa

    durvasa Member

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    A big hole for me is that we lack really good, strong finishers at the basket. Landry has been a good finisher, but he even he'll struggle sometimes battling against much taller players.
     
    #2 durvasa, Nov 3, 2008
  3. jackie_moon23

    jackie_moon23 Member

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    Biggest thing I've noticed is the difference in the dynamic with three major threats. It opens things up for everyone else. Before it was always "Will Yao get the ball low enough in the post to score?" or "Will Tmac make a play." It was such a tunnel visioned offense and the other teams defense knew it. Now the attack can literally come from any direction. Plus, last years role players who blossomed during the second half are now capable of punishing teams for doubling up on anybody. Final comment, Ron Artest's presence on the floor gets this team respect I've never before seen. No guy on a rockets roster in recent history has been so willing (maybe even hoping) to physically go toe to toe with the other teams enforcer. I'm loving the new look.
     
    #3 jackie_moon23, Nov 3, 2008
  4. Angkor Wat

    Angkor Wat Member

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    I love how you called your own analysis brilliant.
     
    #4 Angkor Wat, Nov 3, 2008
  5. Rileydog

    Rileydog Member

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    Well, it is, isn't it? My post count is low, but when I post, it counts!

    The original thread title was going to be "Hear Ye, Hear Ye", but that doesn't call me brilliant.
     
    #5 Rileydog, Nov 3, 2008
  6. abrocketsfan

    abrocketsfan Member

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    This may be fresh on our minds b/c we were particularly poor at finishing against Oklahoma, but we're not that bad ... Yao was missing his layups, McGrady is still recovering, Scola looked bad ... even Ron got blocked

    But the Thunder are young and athletic plus we were playing poorly, in general we have decent finishers despite not being acrobats ... yao typically catches and finishes, landry is one of our better ones, and even scolar remarkably draws fouls even if he doesn't finish ... TMac will recover well too
     
    #6 abrocketsfan, Nov 3, 2008
  7. Severe Rockets Fan

    Severe Rockets Fan Takin it one stage at a time...

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    I think many of our finishers are pretty 'strong'. That's if you mean 'consistently getting points close to the basket' as strong. Ron, Landry, Yao, Tmac, Scola...all get the bucket or to the line(or both) most of the time around the rim.
    What other team has really good, strong finishers at the basket? Besides Shaq/Amare/Howard...there aren't many in the league. Even they get stopped when fouled hard...and they're all terrible at the line...well, Amare's decent.
     
    #7 Severe Rockets Fan, Nov 3, 2008
    Last edited: Nov 3, 2008
  8. Ready

    Ready Member

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    no luther head?

    what happened? is he still on the team?
     
    #8 Ready, Nov 3, 2008
  9. durvasa

    durvasa Member

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    According to 82games, last season we were the 7th worst team in FG% on inside shots. Every playoff team shot better in the interior than us.

    We add Artest, who's probably our best finisher amongst guards/wings on the team. He has great strength and skill around the basket, but even he isn't a guy who'll dunk it for a guaranteed two points.

    Is it a big deal? When I look at our rivals in the West -- Lakers, Suns, Jazz, Hornets, Spurs -- I see teams with much better finishers in general. It's just one of those things I think we'll have to overcome.
     
    #9 durvasa, Nov 3, 2008
  10. tracy1mcgrady4l

    tracy1mcgrady4l Member

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    well, i'm worrying about t-mac's D.but hes great at the line.
     
    #10 tracy1mcgrady4l, Nov 3, 2008
  11. Ikorose

    Ikorose Member

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    100% agree. The less we see of this guy the better our chances of winning.

    But I think the biggest factor with him is that he came in as a PG. With Brooks coming along and Brent Barry able to be a de facto PG we don't need Head to have any playmaking responsibilities whatsoever. Leaving Head to be nothing but a shooter will work wonders for this team.
     
    #11 Ikorose, Nov 3, 2008
  12. Severe Rockets Fan

    Severe Rockets Fan Takin it one stage at a time...

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    I don't think it's a stretch to say we've already overcome it.

    It gives us the ranking for the entire 07-08 season, one which we were without Yao for 27 games.

    We've added Ron who's very strong around the rim.

    The champions are 10th on the list, Washington is second.

    It's an interesting stat, but unreliable when comparing to this year if it can't adjust for our biggest inside presence being gone for 1/3 of the season...that is unless you expect Yao to miss another 27 this year (knock on wood).
     
    #12 Severe Rockets Fan, Nov 3, 2008
  13. rockbox

    rockbox Around before clutchcity.com

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    That's because of alston's stupid floaters. You take that out and our percentages go up.
     
    #13 rockbox, Nov 3, 2008
  14. Easy

    Easy Boban Only Fan
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    You forgot to mention free throw shooting.
     
    #14 Easy, Nov 3, 2008
  15. okierock

    okierock Member

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    Here is my analysis of your analysis

    5. we are deep

    4. Aaron Brooks is fast

    3. we are good

    2. being good and deep = less injuries

    1. Luther Head is bad


    I like it.

    I thought I would break it down so that your brilliance didn't overwhelm everyone. :D
     
    #15 okierock, Nov 3, 2008
  16. LAYGO

    LAYGO Member

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    Head is still solid as a spot up shooter. I would never question his open shot.

    The problem lies in when they attempt to make him a point guard.
     
    #16 LAYGO, Nov 3, 2008
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